Are you a landlord owning several properties for rent? If so, you might want to consider the benefits of multiple property insurance.
The benefits of landlord portfolio insurance
It is also called landlord portfolio insurance since a single policy safeguards the entire portfolio of properties owned by some landlords – no matter if they are a mixture of property types and with no restrictions on your tenant type.
This has a number of advantages:
- if each property is insured separately, each policy has its own renewal date – and careful monitoring and review is needed to make sure each one of your properties remains adequately protected by landlord insurance;
- a single policy, covering all of your let properties (which can be a mixture of HMO’s, mixed use properties and, commercial and residential properties) reduces the time, administrative effort and therefore money spent on that administration;
- further money is saved thanks to the discounts you receive when insuring more than one property at the same time;
- any buy to let mortgage you have on any of the properties is almost certain to come with the condition that an appropriate level of insurance is maintained at all times; and
- if you are looking to expand your buy to let business by arranging mortgages to add more properties, any lender since September 2017 is obliged by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRU) to assess the profitability of your entire operation – including the overhead expenditure you make for the purchase of landlord insurance.
Consider the importance of landlord portfolio insurance
Multiple property insurance provides a level of protection for your property and the business you are operating.
Although it is tailored to meet the particular needs and requirements of an individual landlord’s buy to let business, it typically incorporates indemnity against four broad categories of risk:
Building insurance
- just as with all types of property insurance, landlord portfolio insurance has at its core the protection of the structure and fabric of the buildings concerned against potentially disastrous events such as floods, fire, storm damage, explosions, impacts, vandalism and theft;
- the total building sum insured anticipates the very worst case scenario in which all of your properties suffer a catastrophic event which requires each of them to be completely rebuilt;
Contents insurance
- if required, you can opt for landlords contents insurance. The contents of the properties comprising your portfolio are also likely to have considerable value and the need for protection by insurance – especially furnishings, fixtures and fittings in common areas of the buildings, for example;
Landlord liability insurance
- as the landlord of a whole portfolio of properties, you are likely to have many tenants entitled to claim your responsibility for maintaining a safe and hazard-free living environment;
- if any one of them, their visitors, a neighbour or member of the public is injured or has their property damaged through some contact with your buy to let business, you may be held liable and be responsible for paying substantial compensation;
Compensation for loss of rental income
- in the event of a serious insured incident leaving one of your properties temporarily uninhabitable, you stand to lose any rent on which your buy to let business depends;
- landlord portfolio insurance therefore typically includes compensation for that loss of rental income – subject to any limits prescribed by your policy on the amount of compensation you may receive (usually calculated as a percentage of the total sum insured) and the length of time for which it is payable.
Thus, multiple property insurance provides essential safeguards for both the buildings in which you have invested and the business you are running. Although it is entirely possible to arrange landlord insurance separately for each of your properties, there are a number of benefits in keeping everything safely tied up under a single landlord portfolio property policy.
